A grieving mother of three children, Elizabeth Umoru, has narrated how her nine-year-old daughter, Omonegbo Umoru, drowned after she fell into a flooded drainage following a heavy rainfall in Niger State. The incident happened last Tuesday afternoon in the Tunga area of Minna when the mother sent her daughter to the market to get rice that was supposed to serve the family for lunch. Speaking with Punch, the inconsolable mother explained that Omonegbu had collected the rice and was coming back when she slipped and fell into a drainage. She was accompanied on that fateful errand by her older brother, who stated that after she fell into the drainage, the rain that had flooded it started to wash her away. Despite his best efforts and those of his neighbours to save her, the flood surge was too great for them to carry out any significant rescue operations. According to Elizabeth, the rescue crew had no choice but to watch her disappear with the tide. "Her corpse was later recovered in another drainage and in a faraway part of the town with injuries to her head, she cried. A family member who was at the deceased familys house for condolence said the girl who was the only daughter among the three children of her parents was sent to the Tunga market (about two kilometres from their residence) to purchase some food items. "She was accompanied by her elder brother, an 11-year-old. They went with an umbrella since it had been raining from the early morning hours, although it was not heavy. In fact, at the time that they left the house, the rain had subsided momentarily, but there were signs that the rains could return without any warning, she explained. While they were on their way, the rains came down heavily and in torrents and no sooner than this happened that we noticed that everywhere had become flooded, and all the drainage system along the roads in Tunga had been overtaken by flood, thus making it impossible for even motorists to move. They had to park and wait for the rains to subside and the floods to recede. Her pair of slippers and the nylon bag she carried fell from her as she fell into the drainage system. It was her brother who picked them up for her, Elizabeth said. "I was told that as the flood was carrying her away, her brother was shouting to residents in the neighbourhood to help him rescue his sister, who was being swept away by the flood. The people could not help due to the level the water had risen to and the force with which it carried her. So, they watched helplessly as the water carried away my little girl. As the water swept away the girl, the brother ran back to their residence to inform their parents about the tragedy. Since the sad incident, the grieving parents have been inconsolable over the loss of Omonegbo as friends and neighbours continue to make efforts to console the family. When asked about her husband, Elizabeth said he was sleeping and shouldnt be disturbed. That is why he is there sleeping. It is not like hes sleeping real sleep. She was just like a second wife to my husband. They do things together, she said. "It was on Tuesday afternoon, if Im not mistaken, around after 2 pm. The weather was clear and I wanted to cook. I asked her to go and get me rice. She left happily when I sent her. Even when she went there, my sister called me to say that she had collected the rice and was on her way back. "The next call I would receive again was from my friend, and she was saying that, I should come, I should come o, rain has carried your daughter. I thought she was joking, Elizabeth recalled. Reacting to the incident on Tuesday, the spokesman of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Hussaine Ibrahim, expressed shock over the tragedy and said the agency would visit the girls family to get more details about the incident. "The agency is not aware of the disaster, but my people will visit the home of the girl at Tunga tomorrow to meet with the parents, he promised
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